Ghana manager Avram Grant: Our target is to top our group

Ghana national team manager Avram Grant spoke about his and his squad’s preparations and goals ahead of Ghana’s first 2018 Russia World Cup qualification match.

Ghana, one of the five top seeded nations in Africa, was drawn in Group E with Egypt, Congo, and Uganda last June. Unlike previous Africa World Cup qualifications, the winner of each group will advance to the World Cup straightaway.

The Ghana national team will begin its campaign at home as they host Uganda on Friday, hoping to reach the World Cup for a forth successive time, while Uganda has never qualified to the tournament.

The 61-year-old manager was respectful of his opponents nonetheless, claiming that Friday’s game will be tough, but that will not change his goals.

“I don’t think it will be an easy game, but our target is the same: to win and to do everything to be in Russia,” he said.

When asked about the build up to the match and the advantage of playing at home, he reiterated his goal of qualifying to the 2018 World Cup with Ghana.

“It is the group stages. It’s a tough group, all the teams can qualify, but we have our own wishes to be there [Russia],” emphasized Grant.

“We are gonna face a very tough side and I’m only thinking about football, nothing else,”he claimed, and then added, “We started training today without three players, but tomorrow the whole squad will be together. The most important thing is to be ready on Friday. Even if we face some difficulties, the most important thing is to be there on Friday.”

“I was in the [World Cup] qualifications with Israel, a small team and we missed qualification by two goals even though we played in a group with France, Switzerland, and Ireland,” added Grant.

The Israeli manager concluded his interview by stating Ghana’s capability of topping the group to qualify to the World Cup, emphasizing the importance of winning their first match.

“So, as you know, one of the reasons I came here is to understand why the [national team’s] achievements don’t match the talent. We have a big target, to do many good things, to be on top of the world, and that journey begins on Sunday,” he claimed.

Avram Grant finally pointed out, “We need to do [well] on [Friday], because we want to be on top of the group. From there, everything is possible, because we [the Ghana squad] have the quality.”

Ghana will host Uganda on Friday, October 7, while Egypt will play Congo away from home on Sunday.